


How Did You Know?

by Toastbusters



Category: Boy Meets World, Girl Meets World
Genre: Bisexual Maya Hart, Cute Ending, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Getting Together Times Two, Heart-to-Heart, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Minor Topanga Lawrence-Matthews/Cory Matthews, No Angst, Topanga Knows All
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27160408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toastbusters/pseuds/Toastbusters
Summary: Cory and Maya talk about how he and Shawn got together.
Relationships: Maya Hart & Cory Matthews, Maya Hart/Riley Matthews, Shawn Hunter & Riley Matthews, Shawn Hunter/Cory Matthews, Topanga Lawrence-Matthews & Cory Matthews
Comments: 6
Kudos: 58





	How Did You Know?

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't have a specific time that this took place in mind when I was writing it, so you can pick when you want. It's just vaguely sometime before they get married. 
> 
> Topanga stayed best friends with Cory and Shawn and was their surrogate for Riley. Which is my way of making sure everything basically stays the same except for Shawn being there instead of Topanga. Riley calls her Aunt Topanga and she is still the Killer Shark Lawyer we know her as. 
> 
> Shawn, Cory, and Riley all live in the same apartment we see in Girl Meets World, but there is no Auggie. Sorry, I know he is adorable and I love him, but he just didn't fit in my story. 
> 
> Shawn is still a photographer, but he doesn't go away for assignments. He stays right at home and takes pictures there. 
> 
> I think that's all the background that I felt didn't really have a place in the actual story, but if anyone has questions let me know!
> 
> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> P.S. I love feedback as long as it's not mean.  
> P.P.S. The *** are to break up the flashbacks from the present and the --- are a short time skip.

Cory was at the kitchen table, just starting to grade the likely entirely disappointing essays on the history of the Roman Empire, when Maya barged in the front door. Normally this wouldn’t be cause for concern, but it was Wednesday. Wednesdays meant Riley was out with Shawn on their weekly outing. It was something they had started when Shawn had admitted he was missing spending one on one time with their daughter. He was slightly jealous of all the time Cory got to spend with her at school. Maya knew that Wednesdays were No Riley Days.

Maya looked pretty upset, so he was expecting a major crisis of some sort, but all she asked was, “How did you and Shawn get together?”

Cory was surprised, but thought it probably had something to do with the Riley-Lucas-Maya drama that he had been steadily ignoring in favor of believing his little girl was an innocent ray of sunshine who still believed boys had cooties.

“Hi, Maya. How ya doin’?” Cory wasn’t above a little stalling.

Maya just huffed out a frustrated sounding breath and responded, “Yeah, hi, I’m spectacular. How did you and Shawn get together?”

“Okay then, straight to the deep stuff. Can I ask why you want to know?”

“No.”

“Alrighty then, I guess I would say it all started when we were kids, but really kicked off when Topanga and I broke up. We—”

“Wait, you were with Topanga?”

“Yeah, for a lot of our life we thought we were gonna be together forever. But, as always, she knew more than me. It all really started when Topanga asked me to sit down and have a talk with her. Now, I was obviously suspicious of that phrase because we all know what that means.”

**********

_“Hey, Cory. I need to talk with you, lets go sit down for a minute.” Topanga was wearing her ‘I Mean Business’ face. This usually meant that he had done something stupid, or stupider than usual. She didn’t look mad though, so maybe he was going to make it through this one unscathed._

_“Whatever it is that I did, I’m sorry and it won’t happen again. But, if you do have to kill me tell my Shawn I love him and not to avenge me, I probably deserved it.”_

_Topanga had a tiny smile on her face and gestured for him to come sit next to her on the couch. Cory sat down facing her. He tucked his ankle under his thigh so he could look at her properly, giving her all of his attention._

_“That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about Cory.”_

_“What? My impending demise?”_

_“No, Cory,” she chuckled a little at that, “I meant I wanted to talk to you about Shawn.”_

_“Has something horrible happened to him?!” Cory was panicking at the thought of something happening to Shawn, that just wasn’t allowed. No one was allowed to hurt his Shawnie._

_“No, Cory, stop interrupting!” Topanga was starting to look frustrated with him, but she was more than used to his antics._

_“Shawn is fine, I wanted to talk about how you are completely in love with him.”_

_Cory was absolutely shocked. He had no clue what Topanga was talking about. Absolutely none at all. In love? With Shawn? Preposterous! He loved Topanga. Everyone knew this as fact. Topanga must have had a head injury of some kind._

_“What are you talking about? I’m with you, Topanga! Have you hit your head? You’re acting a little crazy.”_

_“Yes, Cory, I know you’re with me. Key word being_ with _. You didn’t say anything about being in love with me and you never actually denied what I said about Shawn.”_

_“Topanga, I’m not in love with Shawn.” Cory was frowning at her now, she clearly wasn’t getting it._

_“Yes, you are. It’s okay, Cory. You’re my best friend and I want you to be as happy as possible. I also want that for myself and if you aren’t in this relationship one hundred percent than neither of us are getting what we need.” While she said this, Topanga took his hand in hers and looked him directly in the eyes. She really wanted him to listen to this, apparently._ _Cory was starting to think this talk was not going to end well for him._

_“Cory, you always put Shawn first in your life and I’m not just talking about between us. I mean with your whole family. Shawn is your first priority. You always do your best to make sure he is happy and when you can’t make him happy you find some way to comfort him. He’s the only one who can get through to you when you’re having a bad day and you’re the same for him. Whenever you’re in the same room you gravitate towards each other and you always seem to be finding reasons to be touching, even if it’s just a little bit.”_

_As he was hearing all the things she was saying, Cory was confused. He thought that all best friends did that. Wasn’t that the point of a best friend? To always be there for them and help them in any way they need?_

_“That doesn’t mean I’m in love with him, Topanga. It’s Shawn, he’s my best friend. That’s just what best friends do.”_

_“No, it isn’t. I have never seen a non-romantic pair of people act that way. Cory take a second and think about all your interactions with Shawn and compare them to all the times we have been together.”_

_He figured he might as well. Not listening to Topanga always was a mistake._

_Cory thought about how he felt when he was close to Shawn. He always felt warm inside, like he was standing next to the heater, but on the inside instead of on his skin. When he stood next to Topanga all he felt was awkward. He never really knew what to do with his arms or body. He never knew what to say with her, but with Shawn conversation came so easily. Shawn was always able to get Cory to calm down when he was freaking out, he was somehow always able to tell what was wrong and just fix it. Topanga couldn’t do that. He was beginning to see what she was talking about._

_“Okay, say I believe you. What do I do about that? We’re still together and I still love you.”_

_“Cory, I love you, too, but not really in the romantic way. When I realized you were more in love with Shawn than you were with me I took a look at how I felt, too. I realized that I felt more like a mother-y type of friend than a girlfriend or future wife. It’s okay with me. I would love to be just friends again, I think we had our greatest hits when we were just friends.”_

_“Okay, so you want to break up and go back to being friends?”_

_“Yes, I do.”_

_“Okay, then.” Cory paused for a minute. “Now what?”_

_“Now I help get you and Shawn together, obviously.”_

_“Topanga, I need some time to adjust here. Within five minutes we’ve broken up and you’ve told me I was in love with my best friend, my brain is all jumbled.”_

_“Okay, fine, but it will happen eventually. You should adjust quickly.”_

__**********_ _

“Okay, so Topanga just told you you were in love with Shawn and you just went with it?” Maya looked surprised.

“I don’t know why you look so surprised. That is classic Topanga.”

She was quiet for a moment and then she shrugged, “Yeah, that’s true, I guess.”

“Anyway, back to our epic love story.”

__**********_ _

_“Cory are you done adjusting yet?”_

_Cory sighed. This was the third time Topanga had asked this that week. In all honesty, he was pretty okay with his recently discovered feelings. He realized that nothing had really changed with Shawn or Topanga. This was just another clue that he really was in love with Shawn._

_“Fine! Yes! I am adjusted enough for you to meddle. Jeez.”_

_“Finally! Okay, so I had this idea to—”_

_“Don’t tell me the idea!”_

_“Why not?”_

_“Won’t it be more natural if it’s a surprise to both of us? Besides you know I’m a terrible actor.”_

_“Yeah, that’s true. Okay, I won’t tell you. This is even better!”_

_Topanga looked way too excited about this whole thing._

____\--------------------_ _ _ _

_Cory was walking down the hallway after school was over. Topanga had told him to meet her after school in the radio room. He wasn’t sure why, but he just went with it. It was Topanga, she gets what she wants._

_As he entered the radio room, he saw Shawn sitting in a chair looking about as bored as one can look. He jumped up when the door opened and he saw it was Cory._

_“Wait! Don’t close the—!”_

_The door shut just as he said, “Door.” Shawn dropped his head into his palm and sighed loudly._

_“Why shouldn’t the door be shut?” Cory was confused about this and about why Shawn was even there in the first place._

_“Because, genius, it’s locked from this side. We can’t get out unless someone lets us out.”_

_“Oh.” Cory had a look of understanding on his face._

_“What are you doing here, Shawnie? Topanga told me to meet her here.”_

_“Topanga told me to meet her here, too.” Shawn was looking confused and suspicious._

_Cory was beginning to think that this had something to do with Topanga’s scheming. He started to look at the ceiling, the floor, and the walls. Basically everything that wasn’t Shawn. He felt awkward now that he knew Topanga expected him to talk about his feelings. With Shawn._

_“So how ‘bout that Phillies game, huh?”_

_Shawn just gave him a weird look, “Cory, it’s not baseball season.”_

_Ah. The plan has backfired._

_“What’s going on with you, Cor? You’re being weirder than usual.”_

_“No, I’m not. This is my usual level of weird. I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re the one who’s being weird. Stop interrogating me!” Shawn’s eyebrows rose higher and higher as Cory was talking. He clearly wasn’t buying it. Time to engage silent mode._

_“So, what’s up with you? Why are you being a spaz?”_

_Silence._

_“Cor?”_

_Nothing._

_“Seriously?”_

_Yes, seriously._

_“Fine, two can play at this game.” Shawn folded his arms and swiveled in his chair to face the other way._

_They were now sitting in complete silence in a locked room. Fun._

_After ten minutes Cory began to fidget. He started to wiggle his leg back and forth and tap his fingers on his arm. Another ten minutes and he was spinning his chair in circles trying to alleviate the utter boredom and awkwardness filling the room. Ten more minutes and he let out a little scream of frustration, planted his feet firmly on the floor, and turned around to face Shawn._

_“I can’t take this anymore! I need out of this room, now!” He turned towards the door and grabbed his chair. As he prepared to charge at the door with his chair, fully intending on breaking the glass of the window, so they could escape, he felt a hand on his arm._

_“Cory! What is wrong with you?! I want to get out of here as much as you do, but you can’t go throwing chairs! That’s more like me than you.” Shawn had grabbed is arm to stop him._

_“I need to get out of this room, Shawn.”_

_“And I need you to tell me what is going on with you lately. You’re being so weird and flakey. We haven’t talked in, like, a week.”_

_“I said hi to you in the hall two days ago!”_

_“Yeah and that’s all you’ve said to me in two days. Whenever I see you and try to talk you always run away. Literally. Now, tell me what is going on!”_

_“I can’t tell you this. You’ll totally freak.”_

_“I promise that I won’t freak out, Cor.”_

_Cory was trying to decide if he was really going to do this. Best case scenario, it could go great and he and Shawn will be together. Worst case scenario, it could go horribly and they would be awkward around each other for ages. Even worse worst case scenario, Cory could not say anything at all and continue being awkward. Which would lead to their friendship falling apart and them fading from each others lives and then eternal misery._

_Only one option was going to work. He would rather Shawn be upset with him for a little bit than not be in his life at all._

_“Okay, I’ll tell you. But, I’m going to close my eyes, so I don’t have to look at you while I say it.” Cory closed his eyes and shakily took a deep breath._

_“Okay,” he paused. “Okay, I’m gonna say it. I am going to say the words.”_

_Silence._

_“Cory, you gonna talk or not?”_

_“Yes!”_

_Silence._

_“Cory, come on. Just spit it—.”_

_“I’m in love with you!” Nothing was said at this point in time. It was just completely quiet. Cory heard footsteps and assumed Shawn was walking away from him, seeing as he couldn’t completely leave the room. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, so he was surprised when he felt a hand take his own. His eyes flew open in surprise and locked with Shawn’s. He was standing toe to toe with Cory and looking at him intensely._

_“Shawn, what are you doing?” Cory was confused. He did not actually expect this to go well, so he didn’t really know what to do._

_“Shut up, Cory. I’m thinking.”_

_Well, then. That was just rude._

_“That was rude, Shawn. I’m just sayin’, You should be nicer to the people who love—.” Cory was cut off by Shawn’s lips smooshing onto his own._

_It felt like coming home to a warm fire after spending a day in the snow. Pure comfort and joy. He felt like the world could be ending around them and he wouldn’t care at all. The kiss broke, but they stayed close. Forehead to forehead, they were breathing the same air._

_“I’m in love with you, too, Cor.”_

________**********__ _ _ _ _ _ _

“So, that’s how Shawn and I got together.”

“Wow.”

“Any questions?”

“How did you know that your relationship with Shawn was more than friends?”

“Well, I was never able to put anyone else before him and I was always trying to do things to make him happy because his smile was my favorite thing in the world. I never really felt that way with Topanga, so I knew that she was right and I was in love with Shawn.”

Maya had a look of deep thought on her face, but before she could say anything else Riley walked in the door, with Shawn close behind her.

Maya jumped up and stalked over to Riley. “Bay window. Bay window right now.” She grabbed Riley’s wrist and dragged her to the bay window.

Maybe they would finally work things out.

“What’s up with that?” Shawn walked behind him and wrapped his arms around Cory’s shoulders. He put his face in Cory’s neck and breathed in. Cory put his hands on Shawn’s arms and leaned back into him, his lips curved into a soft little smile.

“Just Maya trying to figure out her feelings by asking about us. Wanna guess what’s gonna happen next?”

“I think we both know where this is going.”

Shawn kissed Cory on the cheek and moved to start making something for dinner. Cory went back to grading his disappointing papers.

About an hour later, dinner is ready and Cory goes to get the girls. As he nears Riley’s door, he sees that it’s ajar. He doesn’t hear anybody talking, so he quietly pokes his head around the door. He sees Riley and Maya facing each other with their knees touching and holding hands. They are looking at each other with shy smiles and blushing faces. Cory creeps back out, as quiet as he came in, with a smile.

He can’t wait to tell Shawn the good news.


End file.
